Penn State (Men)
Men's Swimmers Fall at Penn State
2/3/2012 12:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA – The University at Buffalo men's swimming and diving team dropped its first dual meet of the season on Friday afternoon as the Bulls fell to Penn State, 138-97, at McCoy Natatorium. The Bulls are 5-1 while the Nittany Lions improved to 3-6.
The UB divers were the top producers for the squad on Friday as the Bulls swept both the one- and three-meter competitions taking the top two spots in both events.
Senior Colin Patrican won the one-meter diving competition with a season-best mark of 328.50 points. Patrican eclipsed his previous high of 326.85 set in UB's victory against Miami (OH) on January 21. Chris Iafrati shattered his previous season-best mark in winning on the three-meter board. The sophomore tallied 338.62 points, more than 26 points past his previous high set on January 13 at Niagara. Iafrati finished second to Patrican on the one-meter board with another season-best of 321.90 while Patrican finished behind Iafrati on the three-meter board at 321.67.
Josh Meints also earned first-place points in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:12.46.
UB's 200-yard freestyle relay team also picked up first-place points, finishing in 1:22.58. The foursome included Cory Zorsch, Matt Hogan, Ryan Smrekar and Jared Heine. Heine also scored a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle posting a season-best time of 1:41.23, nearly two seconds ahead of his previous pace.
"I am proud of the team and the way they competed. We knew this would be our biggest challenge of the year and they stepped up," said head coach Andy Bashor. "The final score won't show it but we had one of our best meets. Hats off to Colin and Chris for winning the diving events."
The Bulls will finish the regular season tomorrow at St. Bonaventure. The UB women's team will also swim against the Bonnies on Saturday as both meets are slated to start at 1:00 pm.
